Toshiba "re-energized" by Windows 8.1 - introduces two new tablets

Toshiba has become "re-energized" by Windows 8.1 and has two new touchscreen devices at IFA 2013 to show their commitment. The company has just announced an 8-inch tablet entitled the "Encore" and a 13-inch hybrid tablet notebook entitled the "Satellite Click".

The Encore tablet is an 8-inch full Windows 8 tablet powered by an Intel Atom Bay Trail processor, which tells us this tablet was built to be portable – not a small workhorse. Toshiba aimed at a minimalistic design with a plain silver backing and black screen border; the brand name is stamped on both the front and back, but other than that, the tablet is clean of markings.

Toshiba has decided to include a few ports including a headphone jack, HDMI out port, and Micro USB charging port – once again, not a workhorse device. Spokesmen from the company told our friends at The Verge that "smaller is where it’s at" and that is where they have aimed the Encore tablet.

If tablets aren’t your fancy and you prefer a cool hybrid style notebook – the Toshiba Satellite Click just might be more appealing. The unit is a 13 inch laptop with a detachable keyboard for when you are on the go. With a $599 price point, the unit has been aimed at the budget market and is packed internally to match. The unit houses an AMD A4 processor and a 1366 x 768 display; working on a tablet all day means we would usually want a much higher res unit, but for the price – it isn’t bad.

Toshiba also squeezed their Satellite NB15T notebook on board as a PC alternative to the popular Apple MacBook Air. The thin and light NB15T (where naming was obviously not the marketing team’s strongpoint) will feature an Intel Celeron processor, a 500 GB HDD and 4 GB of RAM.

What do you mean? Don't all windows 8 tablets have one button. Are you referring to the fact that the 8" is designed to be used in portrait? Small tablets are assumed to be used as readers for books, magazines, and websites and are usually in portrait. Most 10" tablets, except for the ipad, are designed for landscape because the large screen is ideal for movie watching and playing games.

But I want to know more about the display etc... And don't like start-button + logo in vertical mode.
Still, it's very promising! Can't wait to see what Asus, HP and Lenovo brings to the table! Also hoping for a Surface with Bay Trail...

They should abandon the Surface RT and release a similar device with x86 Bay Trail (simply called the Surface).
And then have (ex-)Nokia release their 'Sirius" RT tablet (preferrably in two sizes, 7-8" and 10-11").
=>
Surface = x86
Lumia = RT/ARM

Now that Microsoft owns Nokia Microsoft should be making more sleeker smarter device with a ton of software support and Nokia was going to help them with RT so Microsoft should be improving everything across the board in the next two years with Windows 8!

At $330 plus bay trail, windows 8.1 and bundled office this tablet hits the sweet spot. A stylus pen would have enhanced "productivity" for sure. IMO, I can live without one.
PS: I don't need a stylus pen to enhance my productivity with a win 8 tab.

As I said on the Verge, I may look at the Encore to replace my 3+ year old laptop and run iis, Apache, SQL, CF, Visual Studio, PS, etc. on it. That price is so damn appealing and it's full 8.1 with the new Bay Trail.

The Click sounds very appealing too for that price but argggh, why won't all laptop makers make it so the detachable tablet can be turned around and clicked back on over the keyboard! If I could do that the Click would automatically be the system I would get. But I don't want to detach it and have two things to tote around. Still, for that price...

I've heard Bay Trail's are pretty zippy but I am being somewhat cautious until they get out in the wild. I am really more inclined toward a hybrid with a twisting or flipping screen. My biggest problem is that I really have no need to upgrade; my old laptop still runs everything fine.

I can attest to Visual Studio running resonably well on a AMD C60 (2010 Atom equivalent). Usually the only slowness I noticed was during launch of the application, though much of that was due to the 5400 RPM hard drive in my netbook.

Hey wow, this is finally the next-gen Atom CPU ("Bay Trail-T"). And the price is right! This could actually be worth something, if the build quality isn't atrocious. Knowing Toshiba, that's a big if...

Yea lately toshiba has been dropping the ball some notebooks/netbooks are homeruns other foul balls. And the customer service has entirely gone down the drain.... I used to swear by Toshiba Products but the last 2 years have been a let down

with all of these hybrid detachable unit being made, I think it's time for Microsoft the start releasing, "Why buy TWO when you only need ONE" commercials showing average customers who have both an ipad and a mac book as opposed to a windows user the has one of many hybrids that can be used for productivity as well as media consumption/games/apps

I'm liking what's happening with Windows 8.1.
Though I'm still awaiting my Kindle Fire HD 8.9in equivalent before I commit to the Windows ecosystem I'm even willing to go without 4G LTE if the "price is right".